A Salad and Another Race

Summer is definitely knocking on the door here! Today it topped out in the low nineties, although it felt hotter in the sun. On days like these, I typically want a salad (surprise, surprise!). Tonight, I made my salad a hearty meal by adding half a roasted sweet potato and about half a can of pan-fried chickpeas. For the potatoes, I simply cubed them, tossed them in a couple teaspoons of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted them for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. For the chickpeas, I heated about a teaspoon of olive oil over medium-high heat in a skillet, then added the chickpeas and cooked them for about 5 minutes, until they were popping. I topped this colorful creation with some freshly made Tomato Tahini Dressing, care of Gena at Choosing Raw. She has lots of great salad dressing ideas on her blog, so check it out. Anyway, this dressing called for one ingredient that isn't usually in my pantry (but should be): nutritional yeast. So, yesterday I bit the bullet and bought some from the bulk bin at my local Whole Foods. I was happy to find out that besides adding good flavor and a creamy texture to food, it is also a really good source of B vitamins and is a complete protein. Bonus. The only thing I changed in the dressing recipe was the nama shoyu; I subbed in soy sauce and it was no problem. This dressing added a lot of body to the salad without being heavy. The flavor was tomato-y, with a hint of tahini, but a little mild. Next time I might throw a clove or two of garlic in. But overall, it was a nice change of pace from the vinaigrettes I usually make. I have plenty leftover, and I think it would also serve well as a sandwich spread.

This Saturday I have my first race since the half marathon - The Spring Lake 5. This is a 5 mile race on a nice, flat course. It really serves as the kickoff to the summer racing season. This is one of the largest 5 mile races in the country, and is run by almost ten thousand people each year. It's also notoriously hard to get an entry into this race, but thanks to a very early morning wake up I managed to secure a bib. My Achilles is feeling pretty decent these days, thanks to Kinesio tape and heel lifts. I'm just happy to be healthy enough to be running! Ideally, I'd like to beat my 5 mile PR, which is 47:05. We'll see how it goes!

Dinner, Dessert, and Fitness

While Thanksgiving was great and full of tasty food, I have to say I'm pretty happy to be back to the regular routine. It's nice to come home from work and unwind by cooking a good weeknight meal. Good doesn't mean it takes loads of work and prep to make, though. Last night I made this recipe from the New York Times, with a few tweaks.
Nothing better than roasted sweet potatoes, in my opinion, and this is one of the best ways I've found to showcase them.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Beans and Chili Lime Dressing
-3 large sweet potatoes, cut into bite sized cubes
-1 red onion, diced
-3 tbsp olive oil
-1 red bell pepper, diced
-2 15 oz. cans black beans, drained
-1 bunch cilantro, chopped
-2/3 cup olive oil
-2 garlic cloves
-juice of 2 limes
-2 jalapenos, chopped
-salt and pepper

-Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
-Toss the sweet potatoes and onion with 3 tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large baking pan. Roast for 30 minutes, until fork tender.
-In the meantime, combine the beans, bell pepper, and cilantro in a bowl.

-In your blender, combine the 2/3 cup olive oil, garlic, lime juice, jalapenos, and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
-When the sweet potatoes and onions are done in the oven, add them to the bean mixture. Toss everything with the dressing, and serve warm.


I served this with some Near East Spanish rice, always a staple in my pantry. This salad was super flavorful, and filling too. And just looking at the colors, you know you're getting a big dose of vitamins here.

Now, I love to eat healthy, but I also have a nearly insatiable sweet tooth. I don't fight it though, I just eat dessert that I love in small quantities. This way I can enjoy something sweet and delicious most nights without the guilt.
My friend Lauren recommended this to me a few weeks ago, and I am so happy I finally took her suggestion! Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss just might be my new dessert obsession. I got the Mint Galactica flavor, and it is so tasty and rich. Just a few spoonfuls is enough to satisfy even my crazy sweet tooth. Check out the company website if you have time, there is lots of really interesting information there about coconuts and nutrition.

Finally, I wanted to talk about fitness. Considering I planned this blog to not only cover healthy vegan food, but also things like running, hiking, and general fitness, I figured I was long overdue to address these things. This past year I really picked up my running. At my high point, I was running about 25 miles a week. Over the course of the summer, I ran a handful of 5 mile and 5k races, and I concluded my running season in October with my first half marathon (run in a nor'easter no less). Since then, I've been on a bit of a break. The week after the half marathon I went on a 9 mile trail run, and came home with a very sore foot. Since then, I've been running about once a week, but always having some serious pain afterwards. So, I've decided to take a bit of real time off. Not run for a couple of weeks. I decided to post about this today because I picked out my comeback race. It's a 2 miler in the dead of winter on the boardwalk. I can only hope it isn't 3 degrees out. I'm not sure where my fitness level will be by then, considering my time off and the fact that I only really run one or two days a week when it isn't daylight savings time. So, we'll see! I'm just excited to heal and get back to running and racing.